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Gluten Free Perfect Pie Crust Recipe

by Carol Kicinski on November 8, 2013

Bakers, start your ovens! Fall is what I consider to be the beginning of pie season. The temperatures start to drop, crisp apples and pears fill the produce shelves and a freshly baked pie seems to be the perfect way to cozy-up a chilly evening. And before you know it we launch into Thanksgiving and the beginning of Holiday Season. I ask you – what is Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie?

For many years after converting to a gluten free diet I made crust-less pies and was perfectly happy. After all a crust-less pie you can safely eat is better than a pie with crust you can’t! But as time went by, I started to resent my crust-less life and started using nuts and gluten-free cookies as a base for my pies. Nothing wrong with that and in fact in some cases, such as my chocolate peanut butter pie, a nut crust is the ideal choice. But what was missing for me was the OTHER choice – a white, flaky, traditional pie crust just like Grandma used to make but without the gluten. So I embarked on a mission to make the perfect gluten free pie crust. The first thing I learned is you can’t let pie crusts intimidate you. It is not only possible to make a great gluten-free pie crust, it is completely do-able and many of those who have tried mine, say they prefer my gluten-free crust to regular wheat crusts they have had.

Here are my tips for making the perfect gluten free pie crust:

1. Cold, cold, cold! Get your ingredients cold before using them. Cut up your butter or shortening into small pieces and pop it in the freezer for 15 to 30 minutes before starting your pastry. Put ice cubes in your water for a good 10 minutes before using it to really chill it down.

2. Use a food processor. The speed with which the food processor can combine the ingredients and cut in your butter or shortening is so much faster than if you do it by hand and results in a flakier crust. Of course if you don’t have a food processor, just cut the shortening or butter in by hand but work quickly and don’t over do it. Bigger pieces of butter or shortening are not only OK, but preferred.

3. Be skimpy on the water. The biggest mistake most people make in preparing pie crusts (whether it be gluten-free or not) is adding too much water. Add just enough so that the ingredients hold together when squeezed in your hand. Too much water will result in a tough crust.

4. Give it a rest! Let your pie crust dough rest for at least an hour before rolling. Many people think this is to let the gluten rest, which would make no sense in a gluten-free recipe, but in truth what you are doing is letting the moisture distribute evenly. Never skip the resting period. Here’s an easy tip – pour your crumbly mixture into a large food storage bag and shape the dough into a disk using the bag to help you – it is less messy this way. Then just pop the bag into the fridge for the crust’s resting period.

5. Extrude – don’t roll. Gluten-free pie crust is more fragile than regular pie crust as it lacks the sticking power of the gluten. It is much easier to employ the “extrusion method”. Simply place your dough on a piece of wax paper that is dusted lightly with gluten-free flour, then sprinkle a little more flour on the dough and top with another piece of wax paper and roll it out. This will help keep your crust in one piece. Using the wax paper also helps in transferring the dough to the pie plate. If a piece falls off or breaks, just pinch it back together, don’t be afraid to show your pie crust who’s boss.

6. Use great ingredients. The sum of the parts will only be as good as what you put in it. Start with a good, pastry quality all purpose gluten-free flour blend that is not grainy or cardboard tasting. For a perfect-just-like-Grandma-used-to-make pie crust you need a flour blend that has a high starch content and some xanthan gum. You need the crust to be flaky but still stick together. If you don’t have a brand you like then make your own using either super fine or Asian flours, they are milled much more finely than most. Also use the best quality butter you can buy and always use either kosher or fine sea salt. If you can not have dairy then substitute the butter with all vegetable solid shortening. In my opinion, the butter flavored shortenings do not produce as good a flavor as the regular, non-flavored. I prefer to use Organic All Vegetable Non-hydrogenated shortening from Spectrum. And yes, I add a bit of regular sugar to my pie crusts, it helps with browning and after all – it’s dessert!

7. To “blind bake” (pre-bake the crust for use when the filling will not be baked such as cream and pudding pies) your crust place a piece of parchment or foil on top of the crust and fill with either pie weights or dried beans. I use dried beans, far less expensive and they can be used over and over again.

This recipe is for sweet pies, if using for a savory dish such as quiche, cut the sugar down to 1 teaspoon. At the end of the recipe is a variation for a Chocolate Pie Crust which is a unique twist for pudding-type or berry pies.

* You can make your own homemade version of a flour blend by combining 3/4 cup super fine white rice flour with 1/4 cup potato starch (not potato flour), 1/4 cup sweet rice flour, 1/4 cup tapioca starch and 1 teaspoon xanthan gum. Whisk until fully combined. This will give you enough for the recipe plus rolling. For best results use Asian or Superfine rice and sweet rice flours. I also use Asian tapioca starch as it does not have that “off” flavor of many tapioca starches. Do not use Asian potato starch as it is made from sweet potatoes.

Directions

Cut butter into ½ inch pieces and place in the freezer for 15 – 30 minutes.

Add some ice cubes to the water and let it get ice cold while preparing the dry ingredients.
Combine the flour blend, salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 5 -6 times to combine. Add the butter and pulse 6 -8 times or until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea size pieces of butter.

With processor running, add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture just barely starts to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough together and it holds then you have enough water, if not add more a little at a time. You do not want to add any more water than is absolutely necessary.

Remove the dough from the machine and form into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour or for as long as 2 -3 days. Since the dough is so crumbly and does not hold together at this point, I find it easier (and far less messy) to pour the mixture into a large food storage bag and form it into a disk using the bag to help. Then just close up the bag and put it in the fridge. Remove dough from fridge 5 minutes before rolling.

To roll the dough, lay a piece of waxed paper on a work surface and sprinkle with some flour blend. Lay the chilled disk on the floured paper, sprinkle with some more flour and lay on another piece of waxed paper. Roll the dough into a circle approximately 12 inches wide. Remove the top sheet of waxed paper and carefully transfer into a 9 inch pie plate and remove the waxed paper. Push the dough very gently down so it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. If the dough splits or breaks apart just push it back together. Trim the edge of the pie crust to about ½ – ¾ inch over hang. Tuck the overhang under and pinch the dough into a decorative finish.

To Pre-bake (or Blind Bake) a pie crust:

Sometimes a recipe will call for a pre-baked or blind baked pie crust, here’s how to do that.

Freeze the pie crust in the pie plate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place a piece of parchment paper (or foil) in the bottom and up the sides of the pie crust. Fill with dried beans, rice or pie weights. (I prefer dried black beans as they help distribute the heat better and are much less expensive than pie weights. I use the same beans over and over.) Bake the crust for 20 minutes. Remove the weights and waxed paper, poke a few holes in the bottom of the crust using a fork and return to the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

Let pie crust cool completely before filling.

A gluten free recipe that makes 1 – 9 inch pie crust.

Variation – Chocolate Pie Crust

Add 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder to the dry ingredients and proceed as above. The dough may require just a tad more water. Make sure to brush off all the excess flour blend after rolling to keep the dark color.

Servings

Need a quick meal?

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Well it sure sounds good, It’s so hard to get a decent pastry gluten free. I find that a lot of butter substitutes have a higher water content than regular butter, and of course they’re not as tasty :) I’ll try this recipe out this week, if I can just decide which one of my favortite fillings to use!

Hi Rosemary – yes I have to agree with you that most gluten free flour blends are awful! That’s why I created my own which you can see here – http://gluten-free-flour.com/

However you can make your own at home. The trick is to use either superfine white and sweet rice flours (you can buy on line) or (a much less expensive option) buy Asian white and sweet rice flour – I like Erawan Brand. Here’s the recipe:

Rosemarie,
I’d like to also suggest a gluten-free flour mix I use. It’s very cheap, very simple, and most importantly, it tastes good. Also, one of the most important factors in a good GF flour is that it be light and airy. Most GF flour mixes are dense and heavy because of the various flours used in the mix. This one is extremely light because it incorporates cornstarch and very light non-wheat flours. I got it from a book called “Irresistibly Gluten Free” by Christina Davis (a book that has recipes that people actually eat on a regular basis, normal everyday food). She calls it “UNflour”. I use it all the time. Here’s the recipe:

I get my cornstarch for $1 a box at Walmart (can’t beat that). I get my rice flour and tapioca flour in bulk at the health food store (way cheaper than packaged specialty flours). I put all the ingredients into a sealable container, put the lid on and then just shake to combine it. No flour dust in the air, no spills on the counter, very easy. Voila! There you have it. I’m sure there are a thousand different GF flour mixes out there, but this one sure has worked for me. Hope that helps. :-)

This can be doubled or tripled, depending on how much GF flour you go through regularly. I just use it in place of regular wheat flour in recipes or anywhere that a GF recipe calls for a GF all-purpose flour mixture.

A a French, I second that. There is nothing better than better. For years i stopped eating butter and bought substitutes, it’s been 3 years now that I am back with butter and never felt so well! (Of course the thing is not to use 500 g of butter a day, like everything in life, MODERATION!)

Carol, this is the post I’ve been looking for all my life! (Okay, maybe just since the time I made my first–dismally awful–pie crust). ;) Thanks for all the great tips. I can’t wait to show my crust who’s boss! :D

Carol, I truly don’t think I’ll ever stop loving my crustless pies (it’s been over 8 years now!), but sometimes a crust is desired. Plus lots of my support group members and readers would like a perfect gluten-free crust. I’ll give your tips a try soon and share them with many others! :-)

Carol – I have truely missed my apple pies so much!!!!! This pie crust sounds great. Can I make a double batch and use the second one for topping the apple pie and cook the crusts and pie filling at the same time???

Carol, thanks this looks like a fabulous recipe. I’ve been searching for a good GF pie crust for months. I do have a question for you. What is your thought on using packaged “Gluten Free Baking Flours” like Bob’s Red Mill? They say you can use it 1:1 like regular all purpose flour.

Ok, first of all I have to say that I don’t personally care for Bob’s Red Mill all purpose gluten free flour blend because of the bean taste – having said that, if you like it, it should be totally fine. Just use cup for cup.

I have never frozen it but I do make it ahead of time – up to a week. I wrap it well, put in the fridge and take it out to let the chill come off before rolling. I have also rolled it out, put in the pie pan and refrigerated it that way, covered in plastic wrap – several days ahead. I see no reason why you could not roll it, line the pie plate , wrap and freeze. Just let it thaw at room temp before filling.

I made this crust (times four) for an early Thanksgiving. I am making it again for tomorrow. It will continue to by my go to recipe. Thank you so much for posting amazing recipes. My family raved about the pies.

I like this no fuss crust. Saw so many super complicated with many GF free flours. Many with nuts as sub flour with we also cannot have. I am forced into GF long Thanksgiving weekend, A guest of ours has insensitivities we got tree nuts allergies so I like how you categorize your recipes. It was exciting to explore GF and rework th emenu but soon became ovewhelming and frustrating so I very much appreciate the simplicity with this crust and it looks amazing!

I’m trying to make a gluten free no wheat flour pie crust for my husband / to make Blueberry pie he’s allergic to wheat flour. Do you have any really good recipes for Blueberry Pie low carb and gluten free.

Well this recipe is totally wheat and gluten free for the pie crust, you now just need a filling that fits. I don’t have one up my sleeve at the moment but I am sure you could google low carb blueberry pie and find a suitable filling.

I do alot of low carb/sugar free recipes. The best thing I have found in baking is the use of splenda. For blueberry pie filling, I use a standard blueberry pie filling recipe and substitute splenda for the sugar … almost cup for cup, but… I cut back the amount by 1/2 – 1/4 cup, then I either use clear jel or tapioca to thicken it. I find tweaking the spices will allow you to cut back on the sweetness.

I followed all the steps and granted, I’m no baker, but the crust… turned out wonderful! I never thought I’d bake a pie in my life, but didn’t want my fiancee to miss out on dessert for Thanksgiving. I’m not allergic to gluten, and had more failures at baking gluten-free than successes, but I won’t mind gluten-free if it’ll be like this. You’ve won me over, and renewed by optimism.

It can but I find that two crusted pies are a bit more difficult – what I do is roll out the dough for the top crust, cut it into shapes with cookie cutters or a glass and then layer the cut out dough pieces onto the pie – it is so pretty and soooo much easier!

Carol… thank you, thank you, thank you!! This is THE BEST gluten free thing I have made in 5 years of trying to be GF!! It turned out BEAUTIFULLY. I consider myself to be a reasonably good baker and have adapted to the GF baking life pretty well, but homemade GF pie crust I had yet to conquer. Admittedly, even wheat pie crust is not my thing… crust is intimidating!! However, after just one use, I must say that I love, love, love this pie crust recipe!! My son is 10 and has many allergies including milk (I used margarine in this recipe, which I don’t love, but it STILL turned out great!) and wheat. I made this for a lemon meringue pie and it turned out BETTER than the wheat crust I used for the other pie for the non-GF-guests at our party (admitted, it was store-bought, see note above!)!! AMAZING!! Thank you so much… and my son thanks you as well. We will be having a lot more things with crust from now on! Hurrah! :)

Hi – love the recipe but am wondering why the crust is just falling apart? It’s still cooling so maybe it will firm up a bit after? I’m just wondering if it will hold it’s shape once the quiche ingredients go in and bake. Would an egg have helped? There’s usually an egg in the traditional pate brisee recipes but it’s omitted in most gf recipes. I did add xanthum (sp?) gum since my gf mix did not have it. Thanks for any insight!

What kind of flour are you using? If it doesn’t have a high starch content, that would be the reason. I never put egg in mine, but if there is not enough starch in your flour blend you could try, it would certainly help hold it together.

Carol,
I love this recipe!! My kids literally licked their plates….. Gluten free, dairy free never tasted so good!! I used shortening instead of butter. I made a strawberry rhubarb pie with it, I will be using this for many things maybe a shepards pie…. Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!

Carol, I’ve been looking for a great gluten free pie crust for years! Have been 100% GFREE since 2008 and that’s the one thing I really miss is a good Pie Crust! For years during the holidays, my mom has homemade pies, apple dumplings, and Bumble BEES from the left over pie crust with cinnamon and sugar and I ate them for years. I have modified a Pecan Bar recipe from Food Network that is awesome but it’s not exactly a pie crust that is rolled out. Thank you! I’m going to try this one and post it on GlutenFreeLady.com

hi carol!i love your receipes but i want to ask you a question.since i had a big problem with candida,i dont eat much sugar or yeast.i eat a bit of honey so i dont mind.but when your receipe calls for yeast lets say 1teaspoon,can i substitute yeast with baking powder or soda or sth?and how much should i use?i dont want to eat alot of yeast and i so want to eat breads and rolls and all that cakes daily.i changed a gf bread receipe with yeast,by adding baking soda/powder but its just by my eye…i dont knwo how much!!!hahahaha…but it turns out good.not too rised but good.better than nothing.if u could tell me about th eyeast problem in your receipes so i can eat good rolls and breads… i would be greatful!!!!!!thank you so much!

Hey Carol – I made this dough today, replacing the regular white rice flour with brown rice flour, and cutting back on the sugar. I made it into a pear-blueberry galette, and it came out great! I hope to add it to my blog soon, with a link back to you, of course. Thanks much!

I’m going to give this a GO. I have another pie crust recipe but it has a “nutty flavor” which is great for some things but not so much for others.
I little tip I picked up from America’s Test Kitchen is to use Vodka instead of water! It evaporates and leaves a flakey crust even if you happen to get too much water. Now I use half the water and then half the Vodka when I make pie crusts with the other recipe and I’ll try this here too. Very excited about this one! I have a few pies I want to try with this crust that the nutty one just didn’t do justice for.

Hi Heather – funny you should mention the vodka. I was speaking with a Polish woman recently who told me one of her family’s tips for flaky pastry is to use vodka in the dough. I am going to give it a try as well. Enjoy!

Thank you so very much. I have purchased every alternative flour except almond and need to use them before I purchase yours. Now I have combinations that will make me more confident. Your flour is very reasonable and I am confident that it will be the flour for me and my GF family. This site has been a gift from God. Thank you for being willing to share. I will be back soon.

Made this amazing crust for my son’s favorite lemon meringue pie today. As I didn’t have sweet rice flour I substituted 1/4 c of Bob’s Red Mill all purpose flour blend. I also used Crisco, as that is what I have always used in traditional crusts. The taste was marvelous! Thanks for a super recipe with great directions.

Hi Beth. For apple pie I make 2 recipes of the crust, roll out one and fill the pie pan (leave un-baked), fill with the apple mixture, roll out the second recipe and cut out shapes with a cookie cutter which I place on top of the apple pie filling, leaving some spaces. Then I brush the cut outs with some beatedn eggs and sprinkle with a bit of sugar and bake. Enjoy!

I.AM.ECSTATIC. about this recipe!!! I have a friend headed over to my place now to make a gluten-free apple pie. Neither of us have made a pie before so this should be fun…and interesting! Wish us luck! :-)

So… I found this recipe to be fine, until I actually par-baked it (blind baked). The rim crumbled completely off and I followed your recipe exactly (using veg shortening). I even pulled out my food processor per your suggestion. It all seemed right until, well, it wasn’t. Too bad. It also doesn’t taste super great. But really, why does it crumble away into nothing? I am very disappointed.

I just wanted to thank you for this recipe. My father-in-law cannot have gluten and so the holidays are particularly difficult. I wanted to bake an apple pie for this Thanksgiving that we all can enjoy and now I absolutely will be able too. I decided to teste the recipe out this afternoon, but not wanting to make a full pie I made what my Grandma calls cinnamon sticks (left over pie dough rolled out smeared with butter, sugar, cinnamon, fold in half, top with more butter and bake). I halfed your recipe and followed the instructions to T and I must say I was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. Tasted nearly the same, actually alittle better as the dough had an almost Shortbread like flavor. My father-in-law is in for a real treat, so thank you again!

I followed this recipe exactly as directed and used it to make a Pumpkin pie and a sweet potato pie, and it is great. The crust turned out perfect, flaky and delicious. It will be my gluten free pie crust from now on, ending years of experimenting with other recipes.

Thank you Carol! I can’t wait to try out your tips this Thanksgiving! This is my very FIRST holiday season being gluten free! So I’m nervous and excited at the same time. Since I’m new to this, my problem is that I have an all purpose baking flour from Bob’s Red Mill that doesn’t have xanthan gum in it. It contains garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, white sorghum flour, and fava bean flour….but no xanthan gum! Will your recipe still work for me? I do have xanthan gum separately. Should I add some to it, and if so, how much? Thanks in advance for your help. I will have to really read through your blog :)

I have never tried it but I think (that being the operative word) that the starch content is high enough you can get away without it. If you do try it, can you report back? I would love to know. Happy Thanksgiving!

tapioca starch… look in the baking section…. or go to your asian food section/ asian grocery stores where it is even cheaper than the health food store. Rice flours are cheaper there as well. just make sure you are getting the right kind… glutinous/ sweet rice flour is sticky and the other kind is dry like wheat flour. or can you do potato starch?

Hi Gina, I have been told by others that they have and it is fine. I think the crust just won’t be as fine in texture but it should taste good especially if you already like the taste of products baked with it. Good luck and Happy Thanksgiving!

Carol:
My mother e-mailed you today wanting to know if there was a substitute for Tapioca Starch – the Asian Variety – since it is not available in our area. Will pototoe starch doubled be ok or what about corn starch? This is for Thanksgiving so your getting back to us right away would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

You can use either corn starch or poato starch. If corn is not an issue for you then that would be my first choice. Just sub the same amout of corn starch as it calls for of tapioca starch. Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m flying by the seat of my pants here today. Too far to make another trip into town. Want to make GF crust for Thanksgiving pies and have white rice flour and corn starch on hand. No xanthan gum. I do have sea salt and crisco. Going to give this a shot. Any suggestions for ingredients I don’t have? Thanks.

Thanks for the recipe… Everyone(even those gluten eaters!) says its the best ever! I use Gluten Free Mama’s Almond Blend flour, which is amazingly delicious. I also grate the frozen butter in which works perfectly and avoids using a food processor or pastry cutter! BUT! I find there is no reason to torture oneself trying roll this out with the little amount of water in the recipe. I use 4-6 Tbl ice cold water, until it forms and holds into a ball (just like I would w non-GF pie dough), refrigerate, then roll between wax paper. Same for top crust for apple pie. Sooooo much easier! Happy Thanksgiving!

Trying the butter so far so good. My first pie is in the oven. Pie crusts taste better with a sweet flour blend: 1 c. of brown rice flour, 1/4 cup of sorghum flour, 1/4 cup tapioca flour, & 1 tsp. xanthum gum, and the rest of the recipe above. The pie crust was soft and flexible; didn’t break apart. The 4 tbsp. of cold water was perfect. The extra 1/4 cup of flour blend I use to roll the crust out. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Gluten-free baking!!

I’ll admit, I was intimidated by gfree crust but this recipe made it easy and everyone at thanksgiving dinner tonight raved. Even those who are not gfree thought the crust was amazing. Truly I felt like a gdre gfree pie baking goddess!! Thank you for such an amazing recipe!!

WOW!!!! I love baking, and am new to the gluten free lifestyle. I have never made pie crust before (having always bought pre baked from the store). I love this recipe. We made pumpkin pie today. This was the best ever! I will totally be using this recipe again!

Hi Carol, I want to make empanadas for my niece who needs gluten free. Have you tried this recipe for something like that? I thought I could use wonton but found out they weren’t gluten free. By the way, made your dinner rolls for her for Thanksgiving and she loved them.

Is it possible to make a 2 crust pie with your recipe ie. a top and bottom crust for a meat pie. Thanks for the answer. I haven’t made a gf pie crust yet but am anxious to try it. We like meat pies and so am hoping that I can make them.

Yes, it is just a little difficult working with the top crust – what I do is make 2 batches and for the top crust I cut it out with cookie cutters and layer on top of the pie – it looks pretty and so much easier. For a meat pie you could do the same with plain round cookie cutters if you like. For fruit pies I sprinkle with a little sugar. For a meat pie you could brush with a little egg wash if you like, it helps to brown better.

Hi Shannon – YES! I do that all the time. I have kept frozen dough disks for up to 6 months. I thaw in the fridge or on the counter until soft enough to roll. I will usually make several batches and pop them oin the freezer for later. Enjoy!

I’m so so sad…I needed this crust to work. Blind-baked for a banana cream birthday pie. Very hard. Wondered if the sugar had anything to do with how not flaky it was. Also, was afraid to freeze the glass pie plate and then put it directly into the oven…so waited several minutes to let it warm slightly. Did you use metal? I NEED THIS TO WORK! Please help!

I usually use ceramic pie pans. I need to know a little more about what you did. The main reason for it not being flaky will be either overworked dough or too much water (usually people add too much water – it should just hold together when squeezed.) ALso tell me about the flours you used. The more you tell me the more I can help.

Hi Carol, Thank you sooooo much for this recipe. It is the best pie crust EVER! Better than my moms and she even agrees! I used a pastry cutter, something I was never comfortable using, and made sure the butter was frozen. The pie disappeared in no time and everyone loved the crust, even the skeptics in the family. This is a keeper for sure!

Crust worked out perfect! Just made it for a lemon meringue pie today for Easter. We made it butter flavored shortening and followed the rest of the directions and it turned out crispy and light. Very nice!

Carol, I made the pie crust so that my daughter and her boyfriend could have apple pie. I SWEAR the crust is BETTER than my homemade flour crust! It was very hard to work with so I ended up cutting it after rolling it so that I could get it into my Emile Henry pie dishes without it breaking. Then I just sealed the cut edges together. Frankenpie, kinda, but it looked fine, really, and tasted AMAZING. I am not a huge fan of plain pie crust but this was almost as good as a cookie. BTW, I did use your GF flour recipe as well, as I already had most of the ingredients. My husband is Jeff Shriver, whom you and your husband know from years back, and says hi. He also enjoyed the sliver of pie he got (it was for my daughter’s birthday so we did not get much of it…sigh!) I am going to make cookies next! BTW this crust is a lot of work, but I figured out what the dough could and could not do and figured out how to work with it instead of against it. I will be running my daughter through it next time as she will need to be able to make this so her boyfriend can have pie. So to others reading this, it really is worth the work. As to the water, I am in SO CAL and it is pretty dry here. I just added the minimum amount of water that I could get away with, which was about the max Carol recommended, and the dough was crumbly but would stick together when pressed. If it crumbles and splits as you extrude it, just push it back together. The thing to keep in mind is that it is very forgiving unlike a flour crust – you can just keep re-forming it until it is what you need it to be. One warning, this recipe for one crust is a little scant for my large Emile Henry pie dishes, so I used trimmings to “patch” the bottom crust. Again, this dough is very forgiving so the patches hardly show. Top crust patching was harder, but I dampened my finger and stroked the edges until they sealed. Yes its a lot more work and my first time doing this was a workout, but it will be easier for the next one.

Hi! Using this tomorrow to make a crust for quiche–aside from cutting the sugar in half, should I do anything else special? Should I bake it for a little while before adding the filling and then baking more?
Thanks! I have a good friend who is GF and I always love challenging myself for her!

Just a helpful suggeation to the writer of thise…I think pictures of how things are suppose to look a long the way might be helpful for some people… I’m not new to baking by any means but gluten free baking yes… And it might help those trying GF baking for a first time on a crust would help to know how things look espically of they don’t have a processor and have to do it by hand.. Or even a video of this being made would help too…

Would cutting the sugar down to 2 tsp. or entirely present a problem with the texture? We actually prefer crusts that aren’t sweet. Thank you! I have tried several gf pie crust recipes and packages, and they have yet to match my pre-gluten free pies. Hoping yours will do the trick! :)

I am tired of making GF recipes on found on the net, that turn out bad. this one is terrible. I have better luck converting my own recipes.
The crust is dry and crumbly and can’t be rolled out. I added more water to no avail. It did not look like your photos either.

I will keep that in mind and see what we can do. But in the mean time you do have some options! You can copy the url link and email it to your friends, or you can simply copy the recipe its self and send it.

can you tell me what to coat my chicken with I used flour in the past and tried coconut flour but it was very grainy on the final dish. I always coat my chicken before sauteing it and need a substitute for flour. TIA

Hi Julia, Can you send me the link of the raspberry picture that’s linked to my site? I’ll try to help you find what you’re looking for, but I think the post you’re referring to is not originally from my blog. :)
xo
Carol

Hi Maria,
Yeah it will work, it just might be denser, I would sub garbonzo bean flour where it calls for rice flour, and then potato starch for where it calls for tapioca starch! I hope that helps! xo, Carol

Love this. I used red mill 1-1 baking flour mix but added 1/4 tsp xantham-gum (to a doubled recipe)! Super flaky –made the prepared bottom pie dishes 1-2 days ahead) & Tops the day of~ I also Egg Washed + a touch of warm honey on a multi fruit pie! (It was left-overs BUT turned Out to be the Pretty One & went 1st! None of the Gluten free pies lasted-worked for: Key Lime-Cherry-Apple Perfectly!

Carol my sister is allergic to Coconut and i am wondering if there is a substitute for coconut flour in this recipe up here. Could you give me some ideas as I really would like to make a pecan pie and I have to be gluten / sugar free and am challenged.

I tried your recipe for “Gluten Free Pie Crust” which came out fantastic. Light and flaky. Decided to make another batch to freeze to see how it holds up to rolling out in a week or so? One batch was pure All purpose non gluten flour, the other one I used half of non gluten all purpose flour and half of Sorghum flour. That dough did show more of a brown color then the other. Fingers crossed it works. Can’t thank you enough.

I’m so happy you found the recipe Beth! I’ve frozen the batter for a day or so before and it definitely doesn’t work as well as refrigerating for only a short time but it should still work. Let me know how it goes. Happy baking :)
xo,Carol

Fantastic ideas for gluten free recipes. I am going to our son’s for Christmas dinner, 20 hungry adults & children . Six of whom are gluteen free so want to provide a good experience for everyone and keep their bellies happy. Thank you, Gail

My own gluten free pie crust recipe had vanished so I searched for a recipe using ice water. This is not a great last minute pie crust! I made it in the morning for a strawberry pie and it was ready to serve with dinner at 2:00 but it was a lot of work getting there! Next time I will definitely make it the day prior. I used Pillsbury Gluten Free Flour and pretty much followed the recipe EXCEPT I did not use a food processor. I have always used two knives scissor fashion to cut in the butter. This worked fine. I needed a couple of extra tablespoons of water after resting to achieve dough consistency. It rolled beautifully and the dough tasted great. I made two pies. They were beautiful and delicious. Thanks for a recipe to replace my own.

I never had much success with pies, even before GF. I wanted to make a pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving and found this recipe. I followed the directions exactly and I was blown away! The crust was flakier than I remember wheat pie crusts being and the taste was luscious. I will be using this quite often. Thank you very much!

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